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St. Cloud printing plant to close, lay off 280

Magazine printing company Quad/Graphics is shutting the doors at its commercial printing plant in St. Cloud. The closing puts 280 people out of work.

This comes after Quad/Graphics completed the acquisition of Waseca-based Brown Printing Company. Quad/Graphics, headquartered in Sussex, Wisc., announced finalization of the $100 million deal May 30.

The St. Cloud location was once valued for its capability to manufacture short-run publications but now most other plants are able to perform similar work.

Claire Ho is a spokesperson for Quad/Graphics. She said the closing had "nothing to do with performance.

"It just has to do with integrating operations and creating the best platform to serve our customers going forward," Ho said.

The plant is scheduled to close in August. Ho said the company has encouraged laid off employees to apply at other Quad/Graphics plants. The company also has a printing plant in Shakopee.

"Today has been a difficult day meeting with employees and certainly our focus has been on them and making sure their needs are being handled," Ho said. "Simultaneously we are reaching out to clients to let them know about our transition plan so that we can continue to meet their expectations."